Cagliari Primavera snatched a precious draw in numerical inferiority against Hellas Verona. After finding the advantage in the first half with captain Carboni on the half hour mark, the rossoblù managed to resist for much of the second half, ten against eleven, after the (very questionable) expulsion of Etienne Catena.
The episode happens in the 11th minute of the second half: the former Sporting Lisbon player commits a foul on Diao, for the referee it is a penalty and a straight red card for a clear scoring opportunity. In reality, in the action that led to the penalty, the yellow-blue striker Dentale was also in the area who, shortly before, had kicked towards goal and was met with a prompt response from Wodzicki. Therefore, only a warning for Catena would have been more correct, in addition to the penalty kick.
Diao himself sealed the equalizer from the spot in the 58th minute. After conceding the 1-1 goal, Pisacane chose to cover himself, substituting the greats Conti and Vinciguerra for Malfitano and Kingstone. Verona, thanks to the draw and numerical superiority, crushes Cagliari in their own half and obtains a series of opportunities in the space of a few minutes. The clearest is that of Cisse, in the 79th minute, with the woodwork hit from long range. A minute later Verona comes close to taking the lead again: first Dentale finishes from close range, Wodzicki blocks, on the rebound Patané comes running and shoots with a sure shot but Casali incredibly saves with a header off the line.
Cagliari suffers but defends in a compact and orderly manner, scrupulously following the coach's instructions. In the 89th minute Wodzicki performs another miracle on Agbonifo. At the last minute, Pisacane's team, after playing behind the halfway line for over thirty minutes, could even take the lead at 2-1 with Malfitano but the midfielder didn't take advantage.
The match ends 1-1. For Pisacane's team it can be considered an excellent draw given how the match went, achieved with suffering and a spirit of sacrifice. But above all it is the fourth consecutive useful result in the championship that gives us hope.
